


Fever Dreams and Starfish

by SherlockianWhovian



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Cookies, Fever Dreams, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hyperion Heights, KnightRook, Poison, Recovered Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-17 00:38:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14176794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SherlockianWhovian/pseuds/SherlockianWhovian
Summary: When Detective Rogers is poisoned, Tilly must come to his aid and nurse him back to health. Rogers' fever dreams are the key to unlocking truths and memories for them both.





	Fever Dreams and Starfish

Rogers groaned a little as he stood up from his desk, holding onto the edge of it to steady himself. He hadn’t been feeling well since he’d eaten the cookies that had been waiting for him on his desk that morning.

“You alright there, Eagle Scout?” the desk sergeant asked as he walked past with a cup of coffee.

“Yeah, just not feeling too well.” Rogers replied with a grimace, “I’m going to call it a day.”

“You must be sick if you’re leaving early.” the desk sergeant teased before he walked away.

Rogers pulled on his jacket and checked he had his wallet and house keys before he left the station to walk home. It was a nice day and Rogers had decided to walk in to work, but now he was regretting that decision. With every step that he took, he seemed to get more unsteady and dizzy. He didn’t understand what was happening; his whole body felt like it was slowing.

Just a few blocks away from the station, he staggered into an alleyway and steadied himself on a wall beside some bins. As soon as he stood still and felt the churning in his gut, he began to realise that there was something much more serious wrong with him. His hands were shaking and his whole body felt cold yet beads of sweat were forming on his brow. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the wall, mentally going through his symptoms until it clicked. Poison.

The cookies on his desk had been poisoned with something and now it was finally kicking in. He opened his eyes and forced his body to move, knowing that he needed to get somewhere with people who could help him. He headed further into the alley without even realizing it, moving out of view of the street before he slumped down the wall. He tried to pull himself back up to his feet but his legs weren’t responding as they should and dizziness was beginning to take hold of him.

A tear rolled down his cheek when he leaned heavily against the cold brick and realised the true extent of his situation. He didn’t have any friends or family who were expecting him, who would look for him if he didn’t return home that evening, and he was alone in the alleyway with no one he could ask to call an ambulance. He had no idea why he’d been poisoned or who’d want to target him and the grim alley was the last thing he’d see before death took him.

 

\---

 

Tilly couldn’t explain the strange feeling in her gut, but she knew that there was something wrong somewhere. She grabbed her backpack and climbed down from the troll, letting her instincts lead her as to which way she should go. Perhaps there was something wrong with her container? Had she locked it up that morning?

It was only when she reached the alley and found Detective Rogers slumped against the wall that she began to panic.

“Detective?” she called, kneeling down beside him and shaking him a little. There was clearly something seriously wrong with him, his skin felt clammy and his whole body seemed to be weak.

“Tilly.” Rogers said in relief, trying his best to focus on her, “Need you to get help...”

“What is it? What’s wrong?” she asked, her eyes wide and worried.

Rogers blinked rapidly, trying to ignore the strange images of jungles and ships that seemed to swim into his line of vision, “Poison, Tilly. The cookies.” he explained, barely able to see her through the hallucinations, “It’s poison, starfish...”

“Okay, I need you to keep looking at me and to squeeze my hand.” Tilly urged, taking his hand in hers and trying to get him to stay with her.

Rogers’ head lolled to one side as he began to fade in and out of consciousness, barely squeezing her hand.

“I need to get help but I can’t just leave you.” Tilly sighed in frustration, glancing around the alley. They weren’t that far from her shipping container and she knew it would be the safest place to put him while she went to get help. She got to her feet and took hold of his arms, deciding to drag him the short distance, as she wasn’t strong enough to pull him up and support his weight.

 

\---

 

“Not far now. Just a few more feet.” Tilly groaned, dragging the Detective and leaning him beside the container as she unlocked it and pulled the door open. He was still alive, mumbling nonsense, but Tilly wasn’t sure how much longer he had left to fight whatever he’d been poisoned with.

She turned the power on and quickly added blankets to the thin mattress in the corner, doing her best to make it a little more comfy for her unexpected guest. She rushed outside and grabbed him, using all her strength to drag and lift him into the container and onto the mattress.

“You’re my rook...” he mumbled, his unfocused eyes suddenly focusing on the chessboard he could see from his makeshift bed, “Don’t leave me, starfish, you’re my rook and I’m your knight...”

Now he was settled on the mattress, Tilly considered her next options. She didn’t have a phone to call for help, she’d have to ask to use one at a shop, or even just run to the police station to get Weaver. She looked over at Rogers and realised that he must have a phone of some kind; she sat forward and carefully searched through his jacket, retrieving his phone and gun.

“Weaver.” she gasped gratefully when the other Detective answered her call, “Rogers has been poisoned. He’s at my container and you need to help him. He said something about cookies.”

“Damn Eloise Gardener. Keep him alive. I’ll be over as soon as I can with an antidote.” Weaver said before he disconnected the call.

“Weaver’s coming and he’s going to bring you an antidote.” Tilly told Rogers as she put the phone down and looked down at him. He was clearly in pain and she wished that she could do something to help him. She took his hand again and squeezed it.

“Starfish...” he groaned, clearly not lucid, “Little rook, little starfish, don’t go...”

“I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay right by your side.” she assured gently.

When Weaver arrived, Tilly was relieved to finally have some help; Rogers had been getting steadily worse and was spending more time unconscious than conscious.

“This is slow acting so it’ll take a while for him to recover.” Weaver warned as he injected some antidote into Rogers’ arm and forced him to drink a quantity of it too, “But he will recover.”

Tilly nodded, “I’ll look after him until he’s better.”

Weaver sighed and reluctantly nodded in agreement, knowing that because of the poison not being from the cursed realm, Rogers wouldn’t be able to be treated in a hospital, “I’m a phone call away if you need supplies.”

“Thanks Weaver.” she replied with a smile.

 

\---

 

“Help me, please… Poison...” Rogers cried out desperately as he had a rare moment of consciousness and lucidity.

Tilly appeared in his line of sight, “Don’t worry, Detective. We’ve given you the antidote and you’re going to get better.”

“I’m dying...” he whimpered, “Please...”

“It’s alright.” Tilly soothed, gently mopping his feverish brow with a cool, wet cloth, “I’m here to help.”

When he was next conscious, Tilly had just returned from fetching bottled water, packet noodles and tins of soup. She unpacked the bags of supplies and turned to find Rogers out of bed and dragging himself slowly, painfully towards the door of the container.

“What are you doing?” she gasped worriedly, rushing to his side and stopping him in his tracks.

“You’re doing this to me! I have to escape!” he hissed through clenched teeth, clearly still lost in a fever dream, “If I stay, you’ll kill me!”

“You’re confused.” Tilly soothed, pulling him up and helping him back to the bed, “I’m trying to help you. You need to rest or you won’t recover.”

“Please don’t hurt her, not my little starfish, not my little girl...” he pleaded, tears beginning to roll down his cheeks as he gripped her arms tight, his unseeing eyes gazing at her, “I’ll do anything Gothel, but please, have mercy on my starfish.”

“Everything’s fine.” she soothed, gently tucking the blankets around him, “I’m Tilly and you’re safe here, Detective. I’m going to make you some soup, it’ll help to make you better.”

As she moved away towards the camping stove, he grabbed her arm in a surprisingly strong grip and pulled her back to his side, “Alice, my Alice.” he said, tears still rolling down his face as he sobbed, “I should have come straight home but I was a fool… Please forgive me… Please, starfish, forgive this old fool...”

Alice watched him with wide eyes, not knowing how to make him feel better, “I’m sure Alice forgives you.” she said gently, taking his hand and squeezing it, “Now, let’s get you resting again.”

“Don’t leave me.” he pleaded, grasping for her hand as she moved away for just a moment.

“It’s okay, I’m not going anywhere. I just needed to grab my book so I can read to you.” she reassured, keeping hold of his hand with one of hers as she used her other hand to open the book, “Now then, Chapter One, Down the Rabbit-Hole...”

 

\---

 

“There’s something not right…not right at all...” Tilly muttered to herself as she paced around the container, trying to figure out why she felt so off. Detective Rogers had succumbed to sleep quickly once she’d started reading, but she hadn’t stopped reading aloud until she too felt tired. His slumber had been much more settled when she’d been reading to him and she hated to see him suffering while the antidote slowly did its work.

“My pills!” she realised when her gaze landed on the prescription bottle. She picked it up and shook the bottle a bit, debating whether to take one or not. She’d forgotten to take any in the days that Rogers had been in the container with her.

“Starfish...” Rogers mumbled in his sleep and Tilly’s head snapped in his direction, visions flooding her mind of a tower and a loving father.

“Oh no.” she gasped when she realised what was happening, “This isn’t a good sign. I can’t be hallucinating too, I’m not ill.”

“Alice...” he murmured, shifting a little in his disturbed sleep.

“You mean me. I’m Alice.” she said, moving to sit on the floor beside the mattress as confusion filled her, “But I’m also Tilly. How can I be both?”

She reached out and placed her hand on his forehead, it was still warm but much less feverish than it had been over the last few days.

“But I am both. Somehow.” she mused, getting up again and moving towards her chess set, “There’s something else going on here. A game that’s being played.”

Over the next few days that Rogers was recovering in the container, Tilly began to see more and more visions, which began to make sense to her. While he hallucinated less, she remembered more and more.

 

\---

 

“Thank you for looking after me.” Rogers said as he pushed the covers back and reached for his boots, “But I really must be going.”

“You can’t leave!” Tilly exclaimed, “I’m remembering so you need to stay and remember too!”

“What are you remembering?” he asked, concern on his face as he watched her.

“The truth, of course!” she said with a grin, “About who we are and where we’re really from!”

Rogers glanced around and his gaze landed on the pill bottle, “Have you had your meds today, love?”

“I don’t need those, Detective.” she laughed, “I can see the truth now. I can see the cracks and the lies. I can see who I really am and who you are too.”

“Tilly, if you’re not taking your meds then what you’re seeing isn’t real.” Rogers said gently.

“But it is real!” she insisted, moving over to him and sitting down on top of him so he was trapped beneath her, “More real than this place anyway.”

“This is hardly appropriate, Tilly.” he admitted, uncomfortable with her sitting on top of him.

Tilly rolled her eyes, “I’m not coming onto you, Detective.” she teased, taking hold of his wrist and handcuffing it to one of the rungs in the container wall, “I’m securing you so you can’t leave.”

“Tilly, no more games.” he warned as she climbed off him, “I’ve been here too long, I need to leave now.”

“You need to remember.” she replied with a small smile, putting a chessboard down on the floor between them and setting up the pieces, “When you remember, this will all make sense.”

There was a knock on the door of the container and Weaver pulled open the door, “Hello Tilly, how are things?” he asked, stepping inside.

“Weaver, she’s bloody handcuffed me!” Rogers exclaimed, pulling at the cuffs so they made a clang on the container wall.

“I’m remembering.” Tilly informed Weaver with a big smile, “And I’m going to get Rogers to remember too.”

“Oh. Right.” Weaver replied with a nod as he turned to leave, “Well, I’ll just leave you two to it then.”

“What do you mean you’re leaving?!” Rogers yelled, “She’s off her meds, Weaver, don’t leave me with her!”

“You’ll thank me later.” Weaver replied cryptically, leaving the container.

“Weaver! You can’t leave me here! WEAVER!” Rogers shouted, pulling furiously at the handcuffs as the container door slammed shut.

“Would you like some tea?” Tilly asked once he’d finished shouting, moving a white pawn forward on the chessboard.

“You can’t keep me here. This is false imprisonment, you’re committing a crime.” he warned her with a raised eyebrow.

“It’s for your own good. I’ll let you go once you remember.” she replied, “Your move.”

 

\---

 

“And then Hook swindled Blackbeard out of a whole chest of gold coins!” Tilly laughed as she sat on the mattress beside Rogers, offering him a sweet. He’d been her captive for hours now and he’d still not shown any signs of remembering, but that hadn’t discouraged her. She’d kept him busy with games of chess, entertained with swashbuckling tales, fed with cookies and sweets and watered with cups of tea.

“Tilly, not that I don’t appreciate the bedtime story, but what if I don’t remember what you want me to?” he asked, taking a sweet from the bag as best he could whilst handcuffed.

“You will.” she replied without a hint of doubt in her tone.

Rogers glanced over at the workbench where his gun and phone lay beside the kettle, along with the key to the handcuffs. He had no leverage in this situation and no way out. How long had she been off her meds? Had she been the one who poisoned him just to get him in the container?

“I’ve got to tell you the one about the dragon next. You’ll love that one.” she said, getting up and refilling their cups with more tea before she settled down beside him again.

“Of course, the one where I outran the dragon with the Jolly Roger, the fastest ship in the realm.” he said with a smile, “How could I have possibly forgotten that I’m Hook?”

Tilly watched him for a long moment before she burst into laughter, “You really didn’t think I’d fall for that, did you?” she said, “Good try, Detective, but not good enough.”

Rogers sighed and leaned back against the container wall, closing his eyes and listening to her recount another tale about Captain Hook. He didn’t think she was mad, she’d clearly just had a disturbing childhood which had led to her being unreasonably attached to tales about pirates - yes, that’s what he’d say when the false imprisonment case got to court; she didn’t need to be locked up, she just needed therapy and someone to make sure that she took her meds.

A little while later, he blinked his eyes open as her tale ended with another round of laughter, clearly Captain Hook had won a battle against a foe in that story too. Tilly yawned and got to her feet, moving their mugs and sweets over to the workbench. She then slipped off her boots and walked towards the pile of blankets she was currently using as a bed.

“Come over here, we can share.” Rogers offered, unwilling to make her sleep on the floor even if she was his captor. He wasn’t sure whether she’d poisoned him or not, but she’d certainly nursed him back to health.

Tilly looked over at him with a raised eyebrow, “I thought that might be too inappropriate for you.” she teased, picking up a couple of blankets and carrying them back over to him.

He shrugged a little, “If you’re going to keep me here then we should probably be comfortable, at least.” he said, lying down on one side of the mattress and making room for her.

She leaned over him and put a warm woollen glove over his handcuffed hand to keep it warm before she gently tucked a blanket around him, “You still had a bit of a fever last night, but tonight you’ll probably feel the cold.”

“Thank you, love.” he said with a tight smile, oddly touched by her care for his wellbeing.

She lay down on the mattress beside him and covered herself with a blanket. Once she was comfortable and the blanket had warmed around her, she stuck her hand out and switched off the floor lamp.

“Goodnight Detective.” she said with a yawn, curling up beside him.

“Goodnight Tilly.” he replied, glancing over to her for a moment before he looked back up at the darkness. For a split second, he found himself wishing that he had a daughter, that he had someone to love and spoil and treat like a Princess. The wish was gone almost as soon as it appeared in his mind when he remembered that he was alone. He didn’t expect to be able to sleep that night, but he soon found himself drifting off, something inside of him soothed by the sound of her soft breaths and the feel of her beside him.

 

\---

 

“Morning Detective.” Tilly’s voice pulled him out of his slumber and he opened his eyes quickly, glancing around before his eyes fixed on her.

“Morning.” he replied with a nod, slowly sitting up. He’d slept much better than he’d expected to and the bed had proven to be toasty warm despite the freezing cold shipping container around them.

“Here’s your breakfast.” she said, putting a plate of croissants and a cup of tea down on the mattress next to him.

“Thanks, love.” he said, using his prosthetic to move the cup closer to his hand.

“I’m going out to stock up on more food. Will you be okay here?” she asked, tying the laces on her boots.

“Don’t go, Alice, I’m starting to remember.” he said, doing his best to convince her with something he’d picked up from her stories, “The Jolly Roger was impressive, wasn’t she?”

Tilly’s face dropped a little at his words, “I know you don’t really remember, Detective.” she replied softly, “I’ll be back soon.”

Rogers sighed as he watched her leave, not sure what he could do next to get her to remember. He pulled the glove off his handcuffed hand with his teeth, before he ate the croissants she’d provided and drank the tea, enjoying the breakfast even if it was basic.

While she was gone, there was little for him to do. He looked down at the chessboard that still sat on the floor, debating potential moves he could make in their next game. He knew she was serious about not wanting to let him go, so he was determined to stay calm and make the most of the situation. He looked around the container, taking it the strange mismatch of objects before his eyes fell on the painting a foot away from the bed. He hadn’t noticed it before but now he couldn’t stop looking at it. It was a ship on a calm sea and it was so similar to his own painting that he knew it couldn’t be a coincidence. He pulled the painting closer with his gloved prosthetic and put it on his lap, studying it. He reached out to touch the canvas and as soon as his fingers met the dry paint, he was hit by a flood of memories that made him dizzy.

Once his head had stopped spinning, he opened his eyes again and looked around at the container anew. He laughed as tears rolled down his cheeks, unable to believe that he’d been cursed and that he’d been so close to his Alice for so long. He was Killian Jones, also known as Hook, but he was also Detective Rogers; having two sets of memories and two different personalities was confusing, but in that moment, none of it mattered. He’d been living in the shipping container for a week with his daughter, with his beloved Alice, and she _remembered_. He frowned a little at the state of the container and decided that something must be done about it before she returned.

He looked over at the handcuffs and smirked a little, while Rogers found them a challenge, they stood no chance against Hook. With just a few sharp twists and a little of his well-practiced pirate escapology skills, he was free from the handcuffs. He left them on the mattress and slowly moved around the container, collecting all of the rubbish and generally tidying his daughter’s makeshift home.

Once the container was shipshape, Killian flicked on the kettle and readied two cups with tea bags while the water boiled. She’d looked after him and spent time trying to get him to remember who he was over the last few days, the least he could do was make her a brew.

 

\---

 

Tilly stopped almost immediately as she arrived back in the container, shopping bags in her hands. The handcuffs were lying open on the mattress and Rogers was stood making tea.

“You got out of the cuffs.” she said with a raised eyebrow.

Killian looked up and a bright smile filled his face as he looked over his beloved grown-up daughter, “Starfish.” he said, emotion in his voice.

Tilly studied him as she placed the bags down, “I’m not falling for that trick again, Detective.” she said but she couldn’t hide her hope for it to be true.

“Alice, love, it’s me.” Killian tried again, desperation on his face, “My little Rook, it’s your Knight.”

“Papa!” Alice gasped and she dived at him, her arms wrapping around his middle as she hugged him tight. She’d wanted to hug him for years and only the land without magic allowed them to hug freely without worrying about his poisoned heart.

“I’m here now, love, I’m here.” he soothed, closing his eyes and holding her just as tight as she clung to him.

Finally, after so many years apart, father and daughter were reunited. There was still a curse to break, a poisoned heart to cure and a coven of witches to be defeated, but for now, all was right in the world.


End file.
